Report: Iran worked with plutonium more than it admitted

Associated Press |
June 16, 2005

VIENNA, AUSTRIA - Iran has acknowledged working with small amounts of plutonium, a possible nuclear arms component, for years longer than it had originally admitted to the U.N. atomic watchdog agency, according to a confidential report made available Wednesday to the Associated Press.

The report, to be delivered as early as today to a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also said Tehran received sensitive technology that can be used as part of a weapons program earlier than it originally said it did.

While not proving or disproving that Iran had weapons ambitions, the details are significant as the agency tries to piece together the puzzle of nearly 18 years of a clandestine nuclear program, revealed in February 2002.

The document said that while Iran had stated its plutonium separation experiments were conducted in 1993 "and that no plutonium had been separated since then," Iranian officials revealed two months ago that there had been linked experiments in 1995 and 1998.

The United States insists nearly two decades of clandestine activities revealed three years ago indicate attempts by Iran to make weapons. Tehran has acknowledged purchasing nuclear technology on the black market, but it insists its nuclear ambitions do not go beyond generating power.

Marked "highly confidential," the report to the U.N. nuclear monitor was made available by a diplomat accredited to the agency who demanded anonymity because he is not authorized to release such information to the media.

Asked about Tehran's nuclear program by BBC television, former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani said it was "possible that, at times, Iran has not reported its activities."

"But from the time Iran decided to make such reports, it has made everything transparent," said Rafsanjani.